McKinnon verdict affirmed

July 28, 2006|Tribune Staff Report

INDIANAPOLIS -- The state Court of Appeals said a St. Joseph County judge properly continued a 2005 murder trial even though the defendant raised questions about jury bias. The court said the judge "took great care" to ensure an impartial jury, contrary to a claim by defendant Matthew McKinnon, who sought a mistrial. The jury convicted him for the 2004 shooting death of Brian Pope Jr. at an East Corby Boulevard house in South Bend. Pope was 18. The Appeals Court ruling affirms that verdict, which followed multiple eyewitness testimony that McKinnon was the shooter. Rumors circulated during the trial about possible gang presence or gang violence in St. Joseph Superior Court. McKinnon claimed at trial that jurors who heard the rumors could not judge him fairly. But the Appeals Court said Judge John Marnocha Jr. questioned jurors at length about what they heard and its possible effect on them. He also admonished them to notify him if they felt they could not act fairly. The Appeals Court also said that the rumors "did not likely have a persuasive effect on the jury's verdict," given the "overwhelming evidence of McKinnon's guilt." McKinnon is serving a 57-year prison term.